Portable electronic devices are generally known in the art. Portable electronic devices are quickly becoming common place in personal and professional endeavors, including educational and business settings. While use of portable electronic devices initially grew with individual use, organizations, including educational and business organizations, now will purchase a number of portable electronic devices for use by students, employees, or other users.
These purchasing organizations may desire a certain amount of control upon the portable electronic devices. The amount of control to assert may be dependent upon a number of factors considered by organizations, including, but not limited to, management of the portable electronic devices, inventory of the portable electronic devices, the type of user of portable electronic devices, the number of users for each portable electronic device, the environment in which the portable electronic device is in use, the relationship between the user and organization, the number of portable electronic devices in use, updating and maintenance of the portable electronic devices, and/or minimizing risk of loss and/or replacement costs of the portable electronic devices. Which factor(s) have the greatest weight dictating the necessary amount of control will be dependent upon the specific purchasing organization.
For example, in a school setting, a portable electronic device may be assigned to a specific student. That student may pick up the portable electronic device at a certain time during the school day, such as at the beginning of the school day, use it throughout the school day, and return the portable electronic device at the end of the school day. In another example, in a school setting, a classroom of students may use a number of portable electronic devices for a period of time during the day. As the students turn over in the classroom, such as by changing classes during the day, different students may use the number of portable electronic devices. As such, a plurality of different students may use a single portable electronic device during a day. In both of these examples, while utilizing the portable electronic devices as an educational tool is an outstanding way for students to learn, it can lead to issues in maintaining the portable electronic devices. For example, it may be difficult to inventory the devices during the day, charge or recharge the devices, account for the return of all devices once students complete use of the devices, and/or efficiently deploy new software or associated updates.
Similar to a school setting, portable electronic devices may be deployed for public use at libraries or other public access buildings. In this setting, the portable electronic devices may be checked out to users for a period of time. Again, many of the same problems as would arise in an educational setting, such as the ability to inventory or account for the return of all devices, may arise at these public settings.
As another example, businesses or hospitals/medical service providers may deploy portable electronic devices in association with business operations or providing medical services, respectively. In order for efficiency or operational gains to be realized by use of the portable electronic devices, the portable electronic devices must be operational and must be used. The inability of the business or medical service provider to control the portable electronic devices can interrupt any efficiency or operational gains. For example, should an employee take a portable electronic device from the premises and forget to return it, that employee will not be able to use the portable electronic device during performance of his or her job. Similarly, if an employee fails to charge or recharge the battery of the portable electronic device, the portable electronic device can run out of power during an employee's work day, rendering the portable electronic device useless. As another example, should an employee remove the portable electronic device from the premises, the information stored on the electronic device may be misappropriated. This and other situations not referenced can lead to inefficiencies and unnecessary risks of loss.
As another example, various service industries may deploy portable electronic devices in association with the performance of services. As an example, certain service providers may employ a plurality of employees whom are deployed off-site to perform their job. These employees may each require a portable electronic device in the performance of their job responsibilities. In addition, these employees may require daily travel in the performance of their job responsibilities. Again, many of the same problems as recited above, such as forgetting, misplacing, losing, or failing to fully recharge portable electronic devices, or the failure of employees to properly maintain the portable electronic devices, may lead to interruption of efficiency, loss of operational gains, and/or unnecessary risk of loss.
As another example, sports teams may deploy portable electronic devices in association with preparation of athletes for sporting activities. For example, local, college, and/or professional sports teams may employ portable electronic devices to communicate plays or other game planning materials for athletes. For example, a sports team, such as an American football team, may communicate a playbook on a portable electronic device assigned to each player. While the portable electronic devices provide the ability for the player to easily transport and use game preparation materials outside of athletic facilities, there are some disadvantages. For example, it can be difficult for the sports team to easily and efficiently update game planning materials. Again using the example of an American football team, a professional team typically has 53 active players divided between offense and defense. Game planning materials typically are updated on a weekly basis depending upon the opponent any given week. Accordingly, it can be difficult to quickly and efficiently distribute updated game preparation materials to the portable electronic devices assigned to each of the players. Further, the updating and distribution process becomes more onerous considering the minimum frequency of weekly update distribution.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system for centrally storing a number of portable electronic devices in a predetermined location. In addition, the system would allow for the batteries of the portable electronic devices to be charged and/or recharged. In addition, the system would provide a system for locking or protecting the portable electronic devices from misuse or theft. In addition, the system would provide a systematic fashion to facilitate storage, security, accountability, and instant inventory verification for the efficient management and use of the portable electronic devices. In addition, the system would provide for convenient and easy movement of the mobile tower assembly between locations for storage, for charging of loaded electronic devices and for self-dispensing and/or return of portable electronic devices by users at convenient user sites.